By Rohana Sengupta
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and during our wedding, wouldn’t we want all of those thousand words to be a salute to the beauty of our matrimony? That’s why it’s so important to find that perfect person to capture every perfect moment during one of the happiest days of your life. This also means there’s a possibility that you may grow a couple of grays trying to find that perfect match (You thought the matching stopped when you got engaged, huh?) Well, we at Bibi Magazine are here to prevent those grays from showing up, and save you some stress. Dear, about to be in wedded bliss, we want you to meet our friend, Metrojojo.
Created, by Jacob Fakheri, a former professional photographer (and a wonderful soul and energy of Iranian- American descent), Metrojojo is essentially your one-stop shop for anything photographer related. It has best been described as the “Airbnb for wedding photography,” and has over 100 photographers on the site from which users can choose from. They don’t have an excessively large selection because each photographer is by invitation only. However, they do go through a rigorous review for portfolio quality, client service, reliability, integrity, and more. These curated photographers then create a listing with bookable packages and pricing. By creating a free account, brides can view package details and see pricing on every photographer all before they ever send a message to them. They can feel confident that each photographer on the site has been screened and is a five-star photographer by anyone’s rating! In fact, on most top-ten lists for the best wedding photographers in the world, Metrojojo has historically always had at least three entrants, and sometimes as many as six photographers who occupy those top-ten slots. Many photographers on Metrojojo have tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of followers on Instagram. They are featured in industry magazines, have shot for international publications like Vogue and National Geographic Traveler. Some have won national awards, many have won international photography awards. With Metrojojo, you can book them as easily as you book your honeymoon accommodation! (Voila! Bye-bye gray hair!)
Examples of photographers, you find on the site include William Bichara, a Dallas-based Lebanese photographer who has been published in Vogue and other top publications, to Hiral Patel, a Houston-based photographer who specializes in Indian weddings. Essentially, the photographers making the shift to the Metrojojo platform have typically done high fashion or commercial print work, traveled the world extensively, and are more than adept at working with vibrant colors, cultures, and customs that typical wedding photographers may not have necessarily ever been exposed to. Here’s a couple more samples for you to check out:
In Mr. Fakheri’s words: “For Metrojojo, what we are is the easiest place in the world to book an incredible wedding photographer. It started with a problem everyone experiences when they are getting married–the fact that it can be really difficult to get a great wedding photographer for most couples. Some people have friends that shoot and so it’s easy for them, but for everyone else it can be a complex process. It starts with searching yellow-pages style sites that are popular for all types of wedding vendors. But even then, that just gets you a name and maybe a review or two. You still have to do more research, email the photographer for a quote or price list, wait for a response, and then go through the process of haggling and negotiating for something. And you have to do this with each photographer you like. A lot of couples look at dozens of wedding photographers, and contact around four to five photographers. On top of all of this, most folks have no idea what a fair price to pay for wedding photography is. They are limited to only knowing the pricing of the photographers they spoke with, or the ones who had price lists.
Whether it’s a fair rate is this sort of black box. It’s important to know that it’s kind of a black box for photographers as well. Photographers only know what other photographers list on their sites for competitive rates. So rates will vary widely by photographer and the expectation becomes that there is some sort of correlation between price and talent. If someone is “cheap,” it’s assumed they aren’t good. If they are expensive, it’s assumed they must be good. In reality though, the correlation is very low. It exists on the extreme, but for the most part pricing is all over the place. In short: there wasn’t an easy way to find a great wedding photographer that you knew was offering you a fair price. And the second this all became destination based, or an international wedding, the problems only became exponential.
When a couple decides to book a photographer through Metrojojo, they just reach out to see if a photographer has their date available and if they are interested in working together. If they come to an agreement, then the couple books the photographer right there through the site. We take care of the rest. We pay a small deposit to the photographer and hold the remainder of the payment until the wedding date. The couple and photographer check in on the wedding date, and we finish paying the photographer. We protect the couple with a site-wide refund and cancellation policy so they can book great photographers with confidence.”
Isn’t simplicity a beautiful thing? Go ahead, click to it, and thank us later!
